Think of Dr. Seuss and your brain probably goes straight to a cat in a striped hat or a green-furred grinch trying to ruin Christmas. It’s all primary colors and whimsical rhymes. But in 1939, Theodor Geisel tried something completely different. He wrote a Dr Seuss adult book called The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History's Barefaced Family.
It flopped. Hard.
The book featured seven sisters who were, quite literally, naked throughout the entire story. Now, before your mind goes to the gutter, it wasn’t "adult" in a smutty way. It was Dr. Seuss, after all. The drawings were stylized, goofy, and lacked any real anatomical detail. Honestly, the women looked like classic Seussian characters—long necks, knobby knees—just without the clothes. Geisel himself later joked that he couldn't draw a sexy woman if his life depended on it. He said he always ended up drawing "seven-fingered people with joints in the wrong places."
Why a Dr Seuss Adult Book Even Exists
By the late 1930s, Geisel was already a successful cartoonist and ad man. He’d published And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. He was a rising star. But he wanted to prove he wasn't just "the kids' guy." He wanted to tackle satire for grown-ups.
The premise of The Seven Lady Godivas is a weird retelling of the English legend. In Geisel's version, the sisters are on a quest to find "Horse Truths" after their father, Lord Godiva, dies in a ridiculous horse-related accident. They refuse to get married until they’ve discovered these truths.
It’s a bizarre, satirical look at the world. It’s also a fascinating peek into the mind of a genius who hadn’t quite found his ultimate lane yet. Random House, his publisher, was skeptical but went along with it because of his previous hits. They printed about 10,000 copies. They barely sold any.
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The Aesthetic of the Naked Godivas
If you look at the illustrations today, they are unmistakably Seuss. The line work is bouncy. The "nudity" is so chaste it’s almost funny. The sisters—Arabella, Belinda, Choisi, Daphne, Elvira, Flavia, and Gussie—don’t look like pin-ups. They look like sketches from a notebook of a man who spent too much time drawing Flit bugs and taxidermy creatures for Liberty magazine.
The humor is dry. Very dry. It lacks the rhythmic, melodic punch of The Lorax or Green Eggs and Ham. It’s dense prose. Some critics at the time found it confusing. Was it a joke? A serious attempt at a novel? No one really knew what to do with a Dr Seuss adult book that didn't rhyme and featured naked ladies chasing horses.
The Massive Commercial Failure
Geisel was devastated by the failure of the Godivas. He often cited it as a major turning point in his career. Most people think he just naturally fell into children's books, but the truth is, he retreated back to them because the adult market rejected him.
Imagine if it had been a hit.
We might not have The Cat in the Hat. We might have had decades of weird, satirical adult novellas instead. The book was so poorly received that copies were being sold off for pennies just to clear warehouse space. For years, Geisel kept a stash of them, occasionally giving them away as gag gifts to friends. He called it his "favorite failure."
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There is something relatable about that. Even the most successful creators in history have a skeleton in their closet—or in this case, seven naked sisters in a dusty bin.
Collecting the Godivas Today
If you’re a book collector, the 1939 first edition is a "holy grail" item. Because so few sold and so many were eventually tossed, finding a copy with a clean dust jacket is incredibly difficult.
- Check the copyright page: It should say 1939 and mention Random House.
- Look at the jacket price: The original price was $1.75.
- Condition is everything: The green and yellow cover fades easily.
In the 1980s, after Seuss had become a global icon, the book was actually re-released. People were finally curious enough to buy it. It did much better the second time around, mostly because of the novelty factor. It wasn't being sold as a new satirical work; it was being sold as a "lost artifact" from a legend.
Lessons from the "Barefaced" Family
Geisel’s foray into adult literature teaches us a lot about branding. He learned that his strength wasn't in traditional satire, but in "subversive" children's stories. He realized he could say more about the human condition through a Sneetch or a Yertle the Turtle than he could through a naked Lady Godiva.
The Dr Seuss adult book wasn't a mistake because of the content. It was a mistake because it ignored his greatest gift: the ability to simplify complex truths into rhythmic, visual perfection. The Seven Lady Godivas is wordy. It’s clunky. It tries too hard to be "clever" in a way that feels forced compared to the effortless flow of his later masterpieces.
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Interestingly, it wasn't his only attempt at reaching adults. Later in his life, he published You’re Only Old Once! in 1986. That book, which dealt with the indignities of geriatric medical exams, was a massive success. The difference? He used the Seuss style—rhymes, bright colors, and surrealism—to talk to adults. He stopped trying to be a "serious" writer and just stayed himself.
Fact-Checking the Myths
You might hear rumors that this book was "banned" or "suppressed." That’s mostly marketing fluff or internet lore. It wasn't banned by some moral crusade; people just didn't buy it. It died a quiet, lonely death on bookstore shelves because it didn't fit the "Seuss" brand that was already forming in the public's mind.
It’s also not "pornography." If you go looking for it expecting something scandalous, you’re going to be disappointed. You’ll find more "scandal" in a Renaissance museum. It’s a curiosity. A footnote. A weird little detour on the road to becoming the most famous children's author in history.
Actionable Steps for Enthusiasts
If you want to experience the "other side" of Ted Geisel, don't just stop at The Seven Lady Godivas. His career was sprawling and often surprisingly gritty.
- Hunt for his political cartoons: During WWII, Geisel drew hundreds of editorial cartoons for the newspaper PM. They are sharp, angry, and incredibly effective. You can find them collected in books like Dr. Seuss Goes to War.
- Look for the 1987 Reissue: If you want to read The Seven Lady Godivas without spending thousands on a first edition, the 80s reissue is much more affordable and includes an introduction that puts the book in its proper historical context.
- Visit the Springfield Museum: The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, occasionally displays his "Midnight Paintings"—a series of surrealist, darker works he did for himself, never intended for children.
- Study his advertising work: Before the books took off, he was the king of "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" ads. These show the DNA of the Godiva book—humor for adults that uses surrealist creatures.
The Dr Seuss adult book remains a bizarre testament to the fact that even geniuses have to find their way. It’s a reminder that failure isn't the end of a career; sometimes, it's just the universe telling you that you’re meant for something even bigger.
If you stumble upon a copy at an estate sale, grab it. Not just for the investment, but for the story of a man who dared to be weird, failed, and then changed the world anyway.